Cuban living in Russia faces Romanian arrest warrant over 2024 sabotage plot

Warrant issued in absentia

The Bucharest Court of Appeal admitted a prosecutors' request on 2 November 2026 for the in-absentia preventive arrest of a 35-year-old Cuban citizen with residence in the Russian Federation. The warrant covers 30 days and starts running from the date it is enforced. DIICOT announced the decision on Thursday, 5 November 2026, in a press release. The man is under investigation for instigating acts of diversion, which Digi24 describes as sabotage. Because the decision was made in absentia, the suspect was not present before the court. Ziare.com reports that Romanian police have placed him on an international wanted list, and that he was born in Cuba but is domiciled in the Russian Federation.

The 2024 plot

According to prosecutors, the Romanian case concerns a plan to set fire to or blow up strategic sites, described as objects of special importance that could endanger national security. Prosecutors say that in June and July 2024 the Cuban offered sums of money to induce a Colombian citizen to travel to Romania and gather information for the plan. The Colombian carried out reconnaissance on the ground and took photographs and video of the targets, according to the DIICOT statement. Digi24 reports that the targets were located in Ilfov county. Romanian authorities announced at the end of 2024 that they had foiled the plan and detained the Colombian, then 34 according to Digi24. He was sentenced to six years in prison, and DIICOT says the conviction became final on 22 September 2025. Ziare.com reports that he has been serving the term since September 2025.

In its statement, DIICOT explained why the plan never reached its goal:

“The criminal plan was not completed due to the intervention of the police bodies.”

Wider investigation

The United States Department of Justice, in a statement posted on its website, confirmed that the suspect belongs to Russian intelligence services. The same announcement said that charges against five people working for those services had been unsealed, covering attacks and assassinations worldwide, including in the United States. The network is described as having paid, or tried to pay, individuals in the United States and elsewhere. Judicial authorities in Latvia, Poland and Czechia are also investigating him for coordinating sabotage on their territory. Romanian prosecutors carried out the work together with DIICOT's central structure judicial police officers, with specialist support from the Romanian Intelligence Service.